Pope Francis reflected on many things - including his memories of his youth, social issues such as immigration, and even the secret of happiness. “The Romans have a saying, which can be taken as a point of reference, they say: ‘Campa e lascia campà’ …live and let live,” said Pope Francis. “That’s the first step to peace and happiness.” He mentioned the Argentine novel "Don Segundo Sombra," written by Ricardo Güiraldes. "In 'Don Segundo Sombra' there is a very beautiful thing, a man who looks back on his life. He says that in youth he was a rocky stream that carried everything ahead; As an adult, he was a running river, and that in old age, he felt movement, but it was ‘”remansado” [dammed; ie slowed, quiet]. I would use this image of the poet and novelist Ricardo Güiraldes, the last adjective “remansado”.The ability to move with kindness and humility, calmness of life," said the Pope. He also mentioned the importance of leisure: reading, art, playing with children. Pope Francis said when he was in Buenos Aires, he would often ask young mothers how often they play with their children. “It was an unexpected question,” he said. “It is hard. The parents go to work and come back when the children are asleep.” Pope Francis also said Sundays should be shared with the family, noting that when he visited Campobasso, the workers did not want to work on Sundays. Speaking about young people, the Holy Father said ways needed to be found to help them find work, noting lack of opportunities can lead to people falling into drug use, or even lead to suicide. “I read the other day, but I do not telegraph it as a scientific fact, that there were 75 million young people under the age of 25 unemployed,” he said. The Pope suggested the youth could be taught skilled work, which would allow them the “dignity of bringing home the bacon.” He also spoke to the newspaper about the international situation, including the increasing number of conflicts and wars across the globe. “War destroys,” said Pope Francis. “And we must shout out for peace. Peace sometimes gives the idea of quietness, but it is not quiet, it is always an active peace.” The Holy Father also spoke about those fleeing the horrors of war and other calamities, and how many countries are not generous in helping refugees. He said Europe fears speaking about immigration, but he praised Sweden for its policies, noting that despite their small population, they have allowed in hundreds of thousands of immigrants. The Pope also spoke about environmental issues, and how mankind continues to waste the bounty given by God. "When, for example, you want to make use of a mining method that extracts more than other methods, but it contaminates the water, it doesn’t matter,” he said. “And so they go on contaminating nature.I think it's a question that we do not face: humanity, in the indiscriminate use and tyranny over nature, is it committing suicide?" In the interview, the Pope also reiterated the Church grows by attraction, not proselytizing. “The worst thing you can do is religious proselytizing, which paralyzes,” he said. When asked by the interviewer about the possibility of winning a Nobel Prize, Pope Francis said he had not considered it, but added the pursuit of awards and doctorates were not part of his agenda. (From archive of Vatican Radio)

Catholic church to 'take over' space of Lansing's last free-standing abortion clinic

MLIVE REPORT: LANSING, MI -- A Catholic church will soon "take over" the space currently being rented by the last free-standing abortion clinic in Lansing, the Lansing Diocese announced this week.

Bishop Earl Boyea authorized the Church of the Resurrection, located at 1531 East Michigan Avenue, to lease the 4,100-square-foot office space at 1601 E. Grand River.The church and the building’s owner have reached an agreement that the Diocese said in a press release would “ultimately put an end to business for WomanCare clinic by Oct. 1, 2014.”A representative from WomanCare was unavailable for comment on this story. According to the Lansing Diocese, the clinic has been given two months’ notice to vacate the premises.The Diocese has identified WomanCare as the last free-standing surgical abortion clinic in Lansing. Another area clinic was shut down several years ago, and the Planned Parenthood Lansing Health Center offers abortion referral but not the procedure itself.Planned Parenthood Mid and South Michigan President and CEO Lori Lamerand said WomanCare was on the abortion referral list the Lansing Health Center gives to patients.“We think it’s always a problem. When you reduce access women end up in very difficult situations,” Lamerand said.In 2012, the legislature passed HB 5711, which placed additional regulations on abortion clinics that Lamerand said have proven costly to implement.“I think that we will start seeing tragedies as a result of limited access, and I think this is the first of what will likely be many closures,” Lamerand said.The nearest surgical abortion clinics if WomanCare went out of business would be in Flint, Ann Arbor or Grand Rapids. Planned Parenthood operates health care centers that provide abortion services in Flint and Ann Arbor.Father Steve Mattson, pastor of the Church of the Resurrection, came up with the plan to take over the space.“Our parish needs temporary space, because we are converting our rectory and current parish offices into a convent to make room for the incoming Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist, who will be serving at Resurrection School and Lansing Catholic High School this fall," he said.At this new location, overlooking the Groesbeck Golf Course, the offices will allow us to both meet the needs of our parishioners and to affirm our comprehensive pro-life commitment to men and women in greatest need.We desire for our parish, including our presence at this new site, to be a place of hope and healing for all who have been wounded by the effects of sin in our world.”The office space will also serve as a hub for pro-life ministry for the newly-created New Life Formation Center.“We desire to provide real help for individuals and families, and want to help educate our community on the dignity of human life from conception to natural death,” Mattson said. SHARED FROM MLIVE Emily Lawler is a Capital/Lansing business reporter for MLive. You can reach her at elawler@mlive.com, subscribe to her on Facebook or follow her on Twitter: @emilyjanelawler.

Memorial of Saint John Vianney, PriestLectionary: 407/408

Reading 1JER 28:1-17

In the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah, king of Judah,in the fifth month of the fourth year,the prophet Hananiah, son of Azzur, from Gibeon,said to me in the house of the LORDin the presence of the priests and all the people:“Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel:‘I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon.Within two years I will restore to this placeall the vessels of the temple of the LORD which Nebuchadnezzar,king of Babylon, took away from this place to Babylon.And I will bring back to this place Jeconiah,son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah,and all the exiles of Judah who went to Babylon,’ says the LORD,‘for I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon.’”

The prophet Jeremiah answered the prophet Hananiahin the presence of the priests and all the people assembledin the house of the LORD, and said:Amen! thus may the LORD do!May he fulfill the things you have prophesiedby bringing the vessels of the house of the LORDand all the exiles back from Babylon to this place!But now, listen to what I am about to state in your hearingand the hearing of all the people.From of old, the prophets who were before you and me prophesiedwar, woe, and pestilence against many lands and mighty kingdoms.But the prophet who prophesies peaceis recognized as truly sent by the LORDonly when his prophetic prediction is fulfilled.

Thereupon the prophet Hananiah took the yokefrom the neck of the prophet Jeremiah and broke it,and said in the presence of all the people:“Thus says the LORD: ‘Even so, within two yearsI will break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon,from off the neck of all the nations.’”At that, the prophet Jeremiah went away.

Some time after the prophet Hananiah had broken the yokefrom off the neck of the prophet Jeremiah,The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah:Go tell Hananiah this:Thus says the LORD:By breaking a wooden yoke, you forge an iron yoke!For thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel:A yoke of iron I will place on the necksof all these nations serving Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon,and they shall serve him; even the beasts of the field I give him.

To the prophet Hananiah the prophet Jeremiah said:Hear this, Hananiah!The LORD has not sent you,and you have raised false confidence in this people.For this, says the LORD, I will dispatch you from the face of the earth;this very year you shall die,because you have preached rebellion against the LORD.That same year, in the seventh month, Hananiah the prophet died.

Gospel MT 14:22-36

Jesus made the disciples get into a boatand precede him to the other side of the sea,while he dismissed the crowds.After doing so, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray.When it was evening he was there alone.Meanwhile the boat, already a few miles offshore,was being tossed about by the waves, for the wind was against it.During the fourth watch of the night,he came toward them, walking on the sea.When the disciples saw him walking on the sea they were terrified.“It is a ghost,” they said, and they cried out in fear.At once Jesus spoke to them, “Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid.”Peter said to him in reply,“Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.”He said, “Come.”Peter got out of the boat and began to walk on the water toward Jesus.But when he saw how strong the wind was he became frightened;and, beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!”Immediately Jesus stretched out his hand and caught him,and said to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?”After they got into the boat, the wind died down.Those who were in the boat did him homage, saying,“Truly, you are the Son of God.”

After making the crossing, they came to land at Gennesaret.When the men of that place recognized him,they sent word to all the surrounding country.People brought to him all those who were sickand begged him that they might touch only the tassel on his cloak,and as many as touched it were healed.

Asia News IT report: Wenzhou bishop and priests slam government's campaign against crosses and churches in Zhejiang (Image above China Aid)by Eugenia ZhangFor Mgr Vincent Zhu Weifang, from the official Church, the campaign of destruction is increasing social instability. It is real persecution against the Christian faith. The bishop apologises for failing to intervene sooner. He was hoping that the campaign would end quickly. Catholics and Protestants suffer injuries as they attempt to defend their sacred buildings. For priests in Wenzhou, the campaign is unfair and touches buildings that have all the right papers. Such "stupid acts" by the government are undermining social harmony.Wenzhou (AsiaNews) - Bishop Zhu Weifang of Wenzhou (Zhejiang) and his priests in the open Church side have openly denounced the Zhejiang government's brutal acts of forced demolitions of churches and stripping off crosses from Catholic and Protestant churches in the province.Bishop Zhu, who has papal mandate and works openly, issued a pastoral letter on July 30 calling his faithful "not to fear but have faith". On the following day, July 31, his priests urged the Zhejiang provincial government to stop the campaign of forcibly knocking knock down crosses on church roofs.The wave of destructions of churches and crosses in Zhejiang province, especially against Christian Churches in Wenzhou, has been going on for months. Protestants and Catholics were injured while fending off police to tear down churches and crosses.After Bishop Zhu issued the pastoral letter, local Catholics were dissatisfied with Bishop Zhu, 87, for reacting slowly on this matter.Bishop Zhu, in his pastoral letter, admitted that "he was not in time to console, encourage and strengthen their faith", felt sorry and asked his priests and faithful for forgiveness.He said the campaign surprised him and made him feel perplexed. He said he was quiet because he thought the campaign would soon be over. This policy of demolition of churches was "wrong and unjust" because even "buildings without violations" were destroyed. He noted that the policy "targets crosses on church-roofs, a sign of Christian faith." This intensified the tension between the Church and the government and caused bloodsheds, he noted. This upsets the religion-state harmony and arouses social instability. The campaign seems to be intensified, he noted.Bishop Zhu urged his flock to pray for the plight of the diocese, by offering a rosary each day and a prayer of the Way of the Cross every Friday. Prayers in groups are encouraged for parishes that suffered severely. "We pray that those who persecute us will change," he said.In the priests' petition on July 31, they strongly urged the Zhejiang government to stop the demolition campaign. They admitted some churches exceeded their approved limits, but insisted the construction procedures were in accord with the law. They questioned which law or regulation states that it is illegal to put up a cross on the church roof; which regulation states that only one cross on one church is allowed in an designated area.Since the construction costs of churches came from donations by the local Catholics, the faithful have lost confidence in the government, the petition said.The Wenzhou priests strongly urged the Zhejiang government to "respect the Catholic Church, respect our sacred and inviolable crosses, and respect Catholics' religious sentiments."They also asked the authorities to stop the whole campaign of demolitions of churches and crosses. "Do not destroy democracy, harmony and social stability. Do not let your stupid acts be teased in history," they warned. Shared from Asia News IT

Statement on the Death of Cardinal Clancy, Archbishop Emeritus of Sydney

Cardinal Clancy was aged 90 and for the past eight years has been cared for by the Little Sisters of the Poor at Randwick.

Cardinal Clancy was the seventh Archbishop of Sydney from 1983 to 2001.

He was born in Lithgow NSW and from a very early age said he wanted to be a priest beginning his studies at age 16.

He was ordained to the priesthood in 1949 and continued his studies both in Australia and Rome. In 1974 he was ordained Auxiliary Bishop of Sydney.

In November 1978 Pope John Paul II appointed Bishop Clancy to the Archdiocese of Canberra-Goulburn as Archbishop until he returned to become the seventh Archbishop of Sydney in 1983 until his retirement in 2001, when he was succeeded by the then Archbishop of Melbourne, George Pell who now holds a position in Rome.

Bishop Peter A Comensoli, Apostolic Administrator of the Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney said:

"News of Cardinal Clancy's passing is received with great sadness. He was a great Churchman and a true leader with total dedication to his vocation. Cardinal Clancy made many contributions to the Australian Church and especially here in Sydney during a lifetime of service."

Funeral arrangements for Cardinal Clancy will be announced early this week.

POPE FRANCIS SENDS CONDOLENCES(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis has sent a telegram of condolence over the death of Cardinal Edward Bede Clancy, Archbishop Emeritus of Sydney, Australia. The cardinal passed away on Sunday in Sydney at the age of 90. Below is the full text: To Monsignor Peter Comensoli Apostolic Administrator Archdiocese of Sydney I was saddened to learn of the death of Cardinal Edward Bede Clancy, Archbishop Emeritus of Sydney, and I offer my heartfelt condolences, together with the assurance of my prayers, to you and to all the faithful of the Archdiocese. I join you in commending the late Cardinal’s soul to God the Father of mercies, with gratitude for his years of episcopal ministry and his wise pastoral leadership of the Archdiocese of Sydney, as seen in his concern for the needs of the poor, his support for Catholic education and his broad ecumenical and civic vision. To all present at the Mass of Christian Burial and to all who mourn Cardinal Clancy in the hope of the Resurrection, I cordially impart my Apostolic Blessing as a pledge of strength and consolation in the Lord. FRANCISCUS PP.

Amid the tears and quiet hugs at the start of the funeral Mass for Sarah Marie Harkins, 32 — a mother of four who died July 28 from a ruptured brain aneurysm — the coos and cries of babies rang out. The sound of life and the celebration of it were central to the Aug. 1 liturgy for Harkins, who was 21-weeks pregnant with her fifth child, Cecilia Rachel, who also died.

The parishioner of St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception Church in Fredericksburg was remembered as a woman whose soul was filled to the brim with love for God, and that loved rippled outward to all she encountered.

The world tells us, said Father Cummings in his homily, that “to be a successful woman you need to have a good job; you need to have it all. You need to define yourself.”Every pew was filled at the funeral Mass, held at St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception and officiated by Father Paul G. Holthaus, a priest of the Baltimore Archdiocese and a great-uncle of Harkins’ husband. Msgr. James Shea and his brother, Father Robert Shea, and Father Ben Kociemba — all friends of the Harkins — concelebrated with Father Keith D. Cummings, St. Mary parochial vicar, who served as homilist.

“Sarah didn’t believe that,” he said. “She didn’t care what the world had to say about her, because she was called by her God who loved her.”

Father Cummings said that in her short life Harkins had many titles.

“She was a sister who was beloved,” he said. She was a daughter who was cherished. She was a mother to her children, “and she delighted in them.”

“And she was Eric’s wife, and she brought joy to him,” he said. “But above and beyond all this, she was a child of God. And she knew it.”

Because God dwelt in the heart that touched so many, her absence creates a sense of emptiness, said Father Cummings. While we struggle to understand her death, we know that God Himself gave His only Son first so that we may have life forever.

“He has taken her back — not forever, but for a time,” he said. “Her life has not ended; it is transformed.”

Harkins collapsed from wasp stings she received after a nest was disturbed in the backyard of the family’s Spotsylvania County home. Her husband performed CPR after calling 911. Medics were able to revive her, but doctors said the stress of the incident ruptured a brain aneurysm. Doctors said she was brain dead and would not survive. Her family then decided to take Harkins off life support.

Born in Greenwald, Minn., Aug. 2, 1981, to James Schulzetenberg, a permanent deacon, and Bonnie Schulzetenberg, Harkins graduated from Melrose High School in Minnesota. She earned a degree in elementary education in 2004 from Franciscan University of Steubenville, Ohio, where she met Eric on a mission trip. The couple married in 2005.

Harkins home-schooled the couple’s children and created a Montessori-style preschool program for the local home-schooling co-op.

“Sarah made a mark on everybody she met,” said Kathleen Wilson, co-founder and executive director of Mary’s Shelter. Harkins had volunteered at the shelters for homeless pregnant women in Fredericksburg for years — mentoring, teaching classes and donating her handmade rosaries to shelter fundraisers.

“She was one of those women that was so beautiful but so approachable and natural,” Wilson said. “She didn’t have to wear her faith and love for her children on her sleeve; you just knew it.”

Wilson’s two youngest children attended preschool co-op, and she remembers Harkins reciting psalms each morning and gently helping the preschoolers learn the prayers of praise by heart.

Her faith emanated from her, said Wilson.

Harkins recently started a women’s Bible study for home-schooling mothers at St. Mary and she ran a home business designing clay rosaries and jewelry, which sold worldwide.

“When Sarah committed to something she gave it her all — be it her faith, rosaries, home-schooling,” Wilson said.

“She was such a passionate person, very driven,” added Father Kociemba, who went to high school with Harkins. “And she directed that passion, all that energy, toward Christ.”

Harkins also had a sharp intellect, said Loura Turner, a fellow home-schooler, and she used it in service to her vocation as a wife, mother and home-educator.

Turner said that as Harkins nurtured the spiritual and academic growth of her children, she nurtured their health through a commitment to natural foods.

She preserved cabbage and made her own toothpaste, according to one of two websites set up to raise funds for expenses related to her death and to the care of her four children: Liam, 7; Analee, 5; Jude, 3; and Mary Faustina, 1, who has Down syndrome.

Countless prayers and an outpouring of support for Harkins and her family are a testament to how deeply she was loved.

Within four days of her death, nearly $172,000 was raised. More than 1,500 comments on the Steubenville Facebook page gave promises of novenas and rosaries and offered words of sympathy.

“Praying for Eric and the children,” says one Facebook post. “God envelope him and his precious little ones in Your arms. We send our love and prayers.”

Parveen Kelly, a midwife for Harkins, said that she was a private but strong person because of her faith. She “was a woman of few words, but her actions spoke volumes,” said Kelly. “She was a woman of grace and power.”

Mary’s Shelter will dedicate its fifth home to Harkins and her unborn daughter. Each house bears the name of someone dear to the shelter. The newest one is set to open on the feast of the Assumption, Aug. 15, and it will be named “The Sarah and Cecilia Harkins Home.”

It’s a way to honor her and her commitment to life, said Wilson. “Sarah was beautiful inside and out.”

How to help

To assist with expenses related to Sarah Harkins' death and the care of her four children, go to gofundme.com or youcaring.com.

Curé of Ars, born at Dardilly, near Lyons, France, on 8 May, 1786; died at Ars, 4 August, 1859; son of Matthieu Vianney and Marie Beluze."

In 1806, the curé at Ecully, M. Balley, opened a school for ecclesiastical students, and Jean-Marie was sent to him. Though he was of average intelligence and his masters never seem to have doubted his vocation, his knowledge was extremely limited, being confined to a little arithmetic, history, and geography, and he found learning, especially the study of Latin, excessively difficult. One of his fellow-students, Matthias Loras, afterwards first Bishop of Dubuque, assisted him with his Latin lessons.

But now another obstacle presented itself. Young Vianney was drawn in the conscription, the war with Spain and the urgent need of recruits having caused Napoleon to withdraw the exemption enjoyed by the ecclesiastical students in the diocese of his uncle, Cardinal Fesch. Matthieu Vianney tried unsuccessfully to procure a substitute, so his son was obliged to go. His regiment soon received marching orders. The morning of departure, Jean-Baptiste went to church to pray, and on his return to the barracks found that his comrades had already left. He was threatened with arrest, but the recruiting captain believed his story and sent him after the troops. At nightfall he met a young man who volunteered to guide him to his fellow-soldiers, but led him to Noes, where some deserters had gathered. The mayor persuaded him to remain there, under an assumed name, as schoolmaster. After fourteen months, he was able to communicate with his family. His father was vexed to know that he was a deserter and ordered him to surrender but the matter was settled by his younger brother offering to serve in his stead and being accepted.

Jean-Baptiste now resumed his studies at Ecully. In 1812, he was sent to the seminary at Verrieres; he was so deficient in Latin as to be obliged to follow the philosophy course in French. He failed to pass the examinations for entrance to the seminary proper, but on re-examination three months later succeeded. On 13 August, 1815, he was ordained priest by Mgr. Simon, Bishop of Grenoble. His difficulties in making the preparatory studies seem to have been due to a lack of mental suppleness in dealing with theory as distinct from practice -- a lack accounted for by the meagreness of his early schooling, the advanced age at which he began to study, the fact that he was not of more than average intelligence, and that he was far advanced in spiritual science and in the practice of virtue long before he came to study it in the abstract. He was sent to Ecully as assistant to M. Balley, who had first recognized and encouraged his vocation, who urged him to persevere when the obstacles in his way seemed insurmountable, who interceded with the examiners when he failed to pass for the higher seminary, and who was his model as well as his preceptor and patron. In 1818, after the death of M. Balley, M. Vianney was made parish priest of Ars, a village not very far from Lyons. It was in the exercise of the functions of the parish priest in this remote French hamlet that as the "curé d'Ars" he became known throughout France and the Christian world. A few years after he went to Ars, he founded a sort of orphanage for destitute girls. It was called "The Providence" and was the model of similar institutions established later all over France. M. Vianney himself instructed the children of "The Providence" in the catechism, and these catechetical instructions came to be so popular that at last they were given every day in the church to large crowds. "The Providence" was the favourite work of the "curé d'Ars", but, although it was successful, it was closed in 1847, because the holy curé thought that he was not justified in maintaining it in the face of the opposition of many good people. Its closing was a very heavy trial to him.

But the chief labour of the Curé d'Ars was the direction of souls. He had not been long at Ars when people began coming to him from other parishes, then from distant places, then from all parts of France, and finally from other countries. As early as 1835, his bishop forbade him to attend the annual retreats of the diocesan clergy because of "the souls awaiting him yonder". During the last ten years of his life, he spent from sixteen to eighteen hours a day in the confessional. His advice was sought by bishops, priests, religious, young men and women in doubt as to their vocation, sinners, persons in all sorts of difficulties and the sick. In 1855, the number of pilgrims had reached twenty thousand a year. The most distinguished persons visited Ars for the purpose of seeing the holy curé and hearing his daily instruction. The Venerable Father Colin was ordained deacon at the same time, and was his life-long friend, while Mother Marie de la Providence founded the Helpers of the Holy Souls on his advice and with his constant encouragement. His direction was characterized by common sense, remarkable insight, and supernatural knowledge. He would sometimes divine sins withheld in an imperfect confession. His instructions were simple in language, full of imagery drawn from daily life and country scenes, but breathing faith and that love of God which was his life principle and which he infused into his audience as much by his manner and appearance as by his words, for, at the last, his voice was almostinaudible.

The miracles recorded by his biographers are of three classes:

* first, the obtaining of money for his charities and food for his orphans;* secondly, supernatural knowledge of the past and future;* thirdly, healing the sick, especially children.

The greatest miracle of all was his life. He practised mortification from his early youth. and for forty years his food and sleep were insufficient, humanly speaking, to sustain life. And yet he laboured incessantly, with unfailing humility, gentleness, patience, and cheerfulness, until he was more than seventy-three years old.

On 3 October, 1874 Jean-Baptiste-Marie Vianney was proclaimed Venerable by Pius IX and on 8 January, 1905, he was enrolled among the Blessed. Pope Pius X proposed him as a model to the parochial clergy.

SURVIVAL kit pamphlets for almost anything in life are one of the hottest selling items in your nearest bookstore. There are such kits for board and bar exams, outdoor activities, corporate presentations and more. Despite the easy and fast service offered by ‘St. Google,’ we are still inclined to have something at hand to quickly consult for answers.

But a survival kit for confession? Doesn’t that sound strange? Aren’t kits for helping one hurdle some insurmountable test or challenging activity? How could there be such a kit for something as harmless as confession?

True, but I’m thinking more of an aid that could help people overcome their excuses, fear, and shame for NOT going to confession. Here’s a list –definitely not exhaustive– of the possible reasons that people may use to either not to confess or to delay it.

#1: A Direct line to God. We often hear the casual saying, ‘Surely, couldn’t I confess directly to God who truly knows my sinful heart?’

Reply: Every prayer to God in some way is a form of confession, but don’t we often want our prayers to be heard and above all answered? In the Old Testament, God already showed the need for intermediaries like the prophet Nathan who revealed to David his sin and this led him to repent before God.

#2: The sinner priest. As in #1, many would make the additional defensive remark, “Why should I confess to someone who is also a sinner?

Reply: As explained in #1, God chooses who His ‘grace-heralds’ are. Some are worthy and others—sadly—are not. But this only goes to show two important lessons: (1) God is still the source of forgiveness, and channels it through whomever He sees fit; (2) the quality of the instrument further demonstrates that God is really behind the person, and this fact even invites the penitent to greater faith in God and sorrow for his sins.

#3: Self medicating. A more stubborn stance can occur when one chooses

not to seek any help at all but one’s personal resources.

Reply: Spiritual self-medication has some advantages. For a spiritually healthy individual, choosing to outdo himself and seeking new ways to grow in his spiritual life is edifying. But in the case of the spiritually less-healthy, the maxim ‘if symptoms persist, consult your Doctor (God)’ applies. Any attempt for such individuals to ‘self-medicate’ would be tantamount to their lack of sincerity to find a real and effective cure to their defects and resulting vices.

#4: Till I’m ready! Others delay confession, stating they are not yet ready, that is, they still lack the adequate sorrow for sins they want to confess. A similar stance is expressed in saying, “I’ll go when I’m truly sorry.”

Reply: In reality, no one is really ready in the sense that readiness of a person’s conscience is not weighed by how he feels (the danger of falling into sentimentality) about his faults. Nothing else can give one spiritual readiness, since only God can forgive sins, other than Confession when the required sorrow is demonstrated by promptly turning to the sacrament, with due preparation, and the resolution to amend for one’s sins.

#5. When I don’t sin anymore or I may fall again. These sound like sincere expressions of one’s remorse and may indeed present good grounds to delay going to the sacrament.

Reply: They, however, reveal an unrealistic knowledge of our human condition: man’s nature is one wounded by sin. Thus, as long as we live we will be sinners. God is not one who wants us sinless, but sorrowful children and walking heaven-bound with their eyes set upon occasions of grace and an ever-growing trust in their Father’s mercy.

#6. Anyway, there’s confession… I’m going anyway… so I can sin now and more.

Reply: These reveal a distorted idea of confession and reduce it to a spiritual washing machine. Moreover, such a mentality belittles God’s mercy and maliciously contrives not to really cut oneself from his sinfulness.

One way to overcome this vicious obstacle to God’s forgiving grace is to sincerely pray to God for one’s sins, cut off the occasions of sin, carry out some penance, go to confession and sincerely express these devious ideas to the confessor. Such a sincere approach will gradually soften a callous conscience and make it more receptive to grace.

* * *

“And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my Church, and the powers of death shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. (Mt. 16)” (Shared from CBCP - Image source Google)